[Nosocomial infective agents in a surgical intensive care unit. II. Occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus (author's transl)].

Over a period of 16 weeks we investigated nursing and medical staff, patients, their inanimate environment and air of surgical intensive care unit on the occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus. On this occasion Staph. aureus could be proved most frequently with the patients (11.0%). In the frequency of evidence the "aseptic" patients come to the fore with 13.1% followed by the "septic" (11.1%) and the "uncertain" patients (7.7%). From the inanimate environment of the "septic" patients Staph. aureus could be isolated in 7.4%, while the environment of the "uncertain" and "aseptic" patients showed nearly the same ratio (2.8, respectively 2.0%). In all the contamination of the inanimate environment is of secondary importance in comparison with the patient himself (5.6%). In only 5.0% of all cases Staph. aureus could be found in samples taken from the staff.